How to sign up your restaurant on DoorDash: the steps, the papers and what it costs
You sign up on DoorDash's restaurant sign-up page: enter the restaurant's name, address, phone and email, pick a business type, give your tax ID and bank details, add a menu, choose how orders reach you (a tablet or your point-of-sale system), and activate in the Merchant Portal. DoorDash says setup takes 1 to 5 days on average [1]. Signing up costs nothing; you pay a commission only when an order comes in [2].
Before you start, read the commission table below. The plan you pick on day one decides what every order leaves you, and the sign-up form moves fast enough that people click through it. If you'd rather start with a page you own, build a free menu site with pickup ordering from a photo of your menu first; it takes minutes and diners pay you directly.
1. What to have ready before you start
DoorDash's help centre lists what the form asks for [1]. Gather it in one sitting so you don't stall halfway:
| You need | Why | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Legal business name and EIN (US) | DoorDash verifies the business and sets up payments with it [1] | Your IRS letter, state registration or last tax return |
| Owner's name and date of birth | Identity check on the person signing [1] | You |
| Bank routing and account numbers | Where payouts go [1] [3] | A check or your bank's app |
| Address, phone, hours | Your listing and the store's open times | Your Google Business Profile is the best copy to use |
| Your menu | Entered by hand, or shared as a link, PDF or photo [3] | See section 4 |
| A login (name, email, password) | Your Merchant Portal account [1] | Use a shared owner email, not a manager's personal one |
Use the same name and address that appear on your Google listing. Mismatches between the two are the most common reason a listing shows the wrong hours or a pin in the wrong place, and they are easier to prevent than to fix later.
2. The sign-up steps, in order
- Open the restaurant sign-up page on DoorDash's merchant site and fill in the restaurant's name, address, email and phone. Pick your business type [3].
- Add business details: hours and the basics of the business. Third-party guides also mention a cuisine type [4].
- Read and sign the merchant agreement. Make sure the person who signs has the authority to commit the business. The agreement is where the commission rate, the pickup rule and any trial are written down, so read the plan lines before you sign.
- Choose a plan. Basic, Plus or Premier (table in section 3). If you're unsure, pick the cheapest and move up only on numbers.
- Build the menu in the Merchant Portal (section 4).
- Add your bank account. The onboarding tracker tells you once the bank details are verified; if there is a problem, you fix it on the Bank Account tab or through Merchant Support [3].
- Decide how orders reach you: a DoorDash tablet, or a point-of-sale system that connects to DoorDash. DoorDash's help says you can activate in the Merchant Portal once the menu is created, the bank is verified and the tablet has arrived or the POS is connected [3].
- Activate, then place a test order if the portal offers one, and watch the first real order from the moment the tablet rings to the handoff.
The wording of screens changes, and some steps above come from third-party guides rather than DoorDash's own pages [4]. Where the portal says something different, the portal wins.
3. Pick the plan before you click Activate
These are DoorDash's published US rates for restaurants with 75 or fewer locations, worked out in full in our guide to DoorDash's commission fee for restaurants [2]:
| Plan | Delivery commission | Pickup commission | On a $25 delivered order you keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 15% | 6% | $21.25 |
| Plus | 25% | 6% | $18.75 |
| Premier | 30% | 6% | $17.50 |
The commission is figured on the food subtotal, before tax and tip. There is no monthly fee or contract on these plans [2]. A higher plan has to bring more orders to pay for itself: against Basic, Plus needs about 22% more orders and Premier about 37% more, if your food costs 30% of the price. The working is in the commission guide.
Trials. New restaurants have been offered 0% commission for a short start (reported as 7 days on Basic and 30 days on Plus and Premier) [4]. Check what your own sign-up offers and when it ends; judge a plan on its first full month after the trial, not during it.
Pickup is its own rate. Pickup orders cost 6% on every plan, and the 6% is reported to require pickup menu prices that match your in-store prices [4]. If you plan to mark up delivery prices, read what DoorDash charges on pickup orders first.
4. Getting the menu in without a mess
You can type items into the Merchant Portal, or share a link to your menu, or upload a PDF or a photo of it, and DoorDash builds the first draft [3]. A drafted menu is a start, not a finish. Go through it line by line:
- Names and prices. Check each item against your in-store menu. Decide now whether delivery prices will be higher; the sums are in does DoorDash mark up prices.
- Modifiers. Sizes, sides, "no onions", add-ons. Mark each as required or optional. A missing required choice (a steak with no doneness) is how wrong orders start.
- Photos. Items with a clear photo get ordered more than a name alone, and a menu with no photos looks unfinished. Use your own photos of the food on a plain surface in daylight.
- Leave off what doesn't travel. Fries that go limp in 20 minutes, anything with a crisp topping, a raw bar. A dish that arrives badly becomes a refund charged to you.
- Hours. Set delivery hours a little after you open and a little before you close, so the last order doesn't land when the kitchen is cleaning.
- Packaging in the price. Food that holds for 20 minutes in a bag costs more to pack than a dine-in plate. Put it in the item's cost, not in overhead.
If your own menu is a muddle, fix it once and use the same list everywhere: DoorDash, your Google listing, your website. How to edit your menu online lists every place a menu lives and the quickest order to change them.
5. The tablet, or no tablet
DoorDash sends orders to a tablet. The tablet is reported at about $6 a week in the US after a trial period, about $26 a month; you can avoid it if your point-of-sale system connects to DoorDash, or by taking orders by email or fax [4]. Check the cost in your own agreement. If you already use Toast, Square or Clover, ask whether it connects: orders that print in your own kitchen workflow cause fewer mistakes than a second screen next to the register.
6. Your first week live
Going live is the start of the work, not the end. A new listing has no reviews and sits low in the app. In the first week:
- Place an order yourself (or ask a friend to) and follow it from tablet to door. Look for slow prep times, missing items and sloppy packaging.
- Set an honest prep time. A promised 12 minutes that takes 25 earns a bad review and a refund.
- Check the Orders and Payments tabs daily for the first two weeks: each order's subtotal, commission, adjustments and payout.
- Put a card in every bag: "Order direct next time: pickup, no app fees", with a QR code to your own page. Of all the tricks, it's the one that reaches a repeat customer.
- Turn off anything you didn't choose, like promotions or sponsored listings, until you've seen a month of plain orders.
7. Mistakes to avoid at sign-up
- Taking the highest plan because it sounds better. Premier costs 15 points more than Basic on every delivered order, including the ones you would have had anyway.
- Not reading the pickup rule. A marked-up pickup menu can cost you the 6% rate [4].
- A legal name that doesn't match your bank account, which stalls payouts.
- Importing a messy menu and never checking it. The first wrong order is on you.
- Sending regulars to DoorDash. A "Find us on DoorDash" sticker asks your best customers to pay a commission to reach you.
- Assuming it's all or nothing. You can stay on Basic for discovery and move regular customers to your own ordering page, as set out in DoorDash Storefront fees and commission-free online ordering for restaurants.
Questions
Does it cost money to sign up a restaurant on DoorDash?
No. Signing up is free and the Marketplace plans have no monthly fee or contract; you pay a commission on each order [2]. The optional tablet is reported at about $6 a week [4].
How long does DoorDash take to approve a restaurant?
DoorDash's help says 1 to 5 days on average [1], and its marketplace page says 40% of small restaurant merchants onboard the same day they sign up [5]. The slow parts are usually the bank verification and the tablet delivery.
What do I need to sign up?
Your legal business name and EIN, the owner's name and date of birth, your bank routing and account numbers, your address and hours, and a menu [1] [3].
Can I sign up without a tablet?
Yes, if your POS connects to DoorDash, or if you take orders by email or fax [4]. Ask Merchant Support which options your POS supports.
Can I change my plan later?
Yes. A plan change can take up to five business days to apply [4]. Count orders from the day the new rate shows on your statement.
Do I need a website to be on DoorDash?
No. But a page of your own gives you somewhere to send regulars where no commission is taken. Build your menu site free from a photo of your menu, and see all our restaurant guides for the rest.
Sources
- How to Sign Up for DoorDash as a Merchant, DoorDash Merchant Help, read Nov 9, 2026 (EIN, owner's details, bank numbers, 1 to 5 days on average).
- DoorDash commission rates and pricing, DoorDash, read Nov 1, 2026 (plans, no monthly fee; as listed in search).
- How Do I Sign My Store Up for DoorDash?, DoorDash learning centre, read Nov 9, 2026 (menu by link, PDF or photo; bank verification; activation).
- How much does DoorDash charge restaurants?, Restolabs, read Nov 1, 2026 (reported: trial lengths, tablet at $6 a week, pickup price match, plan change timing).
- DoorDash Marketplace page, DoorDash for Merchants, read Nov 9, 2026 (40% of small restaurant merchants onboard the same day).